Suspicious Bets Spark Probe Into College Hoops Gambling

• From December 2024 to mid-January 2025, multiple sportsbooks flagged suspicious betting activity on small-conference teams, often on first-half spreads.
• The accounts were new or reactivated accounts, usually placing large wagers with some connected to a Mississippi man, Marves Fairley.
• The investigations are tied into broader NCAA and federal interest in gambling manipulation of college games, including ongoing probes into former players at multiple schools.

JACKSON, Miss. – An ever-intensifying NCAA enforcement probe has uncovered alleged sports betting violations involving 13 former men’s basketball players across six Division 1 programs.

Multiple sportsbooks, including BetMGM, flagged the activity and submitted alerts to IC360, a betting-monitoring firm tasked with identifying suspicious wagering behavior. Some bettors placed large sums, including bets exceeding $5,000 on single first-half lines, with consistent success.

Among the individuals linked to the pattern is Marves Fairley, named in sportsbook documents as “a main syndicate suspect”, although Fairley has denied involvement. The investigation also connects Fairley to Shane Hennen, previously implicated in a high-profile sports gambling scandal involving former NBA prospect Jontay Porter.

The suspicious legal USA gambling activity coincides with ongoing NCAA investigations into violations from a handful of universities. Notably, four players from New Orleans were suspended in late January for gambling violations.

According to NCAA officials, the violations under review encompass:

• Betting for and against their own teams
• Manipulating scoring lines or performances
• Sharing internal or inside information with third parties for gambling purposes
• Refusing to cooperate with the investigation.

The institutions implicated include Eastern Michigan, Temple, Arizona State, New Orleans, North Carolina A&T, and Mississippi Valley State. The NCAA says none of the involved players remain enrolled at those schools, and that institutional penalties are being pursued currently.

These cases follow a landmark NCAA ruling earlier this season when:

• Mykell Robinson, Jalen Weaver, and Steven Vasquez from Fresno State and San Jose State, respectively, were found guilty of wagering on each other’s performance and manipulating game outcomes.
• Robinson and Vasquez placed three prop bets on underperformance in a game between Fresno State and Colorado State.
• Each player has been declared permanently ineligible.

These rulings have become a reference point in the current investigations, demonstrating how sportsbooks taking USA players and NCAA compliance offices can detect irregularities in prop betting markets.

Connection to Broader Gambling Rings

Investigations believe the current cases may tie into larger, multi-league wagering networks. According to ESPN, sportsbook accounts linked to a U.S. federal gambling ring have placed bets against North Carolina A&T, Eastern Michigan, and Mississippi Valley State in college games.

One bettor associated with the syndicate has already been arrested on unrelated drug and money laundering charges, and had reportedly gambled over $10 million across Mississippi and Nevada casinos.

Arizona State University acknowledged awareness of an investigation tied to a former student athlete, asserting it cooperated fully and has not been implicated.

The college basketball season commences on November 3, 2025 and officials remain vigilant against threats posed by gambling syndicates. These investigations could prompt stronger betting rules, especially props, which are the most vulnerable to manipulation.